Galloway Hosts Rosenwald Schools Conversation at NCCHR

By Head of Community Engagement Gordon Mathis

On Sunday, November 7, The Galloway School hosted parents and students at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights to view and discuss the permanent exhibitions and the current traveling display of photographs of the Rosenwald Schools. 

More than 40 members of the Galloway community gathered to experience the displays about the 20th century Civil Rights movement in the United States, some for the first time. Older students routinely visit the NCCHR on field trips, and this moving visit provided the opportunity for parents and students to learn together; some families even shared the experience across three generations. 

In addition to the permanent exhibitions about Civil and Human Rights, the NCCHR is hosting a  collection of photographs by Georgian photographer Andrew Feiler about the Rosenwald Schools. Julius Rosenwald was the son of immigrants and the president of Sears, Roebuck.  Inspired by Booker T. Washington, Rosenwald contributed money to build more than 5000 schools across the South to serve Black children in rural communities. Rosenwald’s philanthropy provided an education for children during the ugly days of Jim Crow when county governments did not provide an education for African American children in the South. 

With Galloway’s Chief DEI Officer Dr. Karen Bradberry acting as facilitator, students, parents, and teachers participated in a lively discussion of the Civil Rights Movement, Rosenwald’s legacy for education, and the importance of discussing contemporary and controversial issues in education in today’s classrooms.